RRCC STEM Expo Fall 2017 Program Wednesday, November 29, 10am – 12pm What Should You Know About Your Water? Kayla Andis, April Beal, Cole Delery, Nicole Dickinson, Donny Herrera, Manisha Jaiswal, Chad Matthews, Christian Prather, HNR 100 Advisor: B Sobhani The people of Denver should know more about their water. A recent survey of RRCC students showed that there are concerns about access to clean water in the future. A large percent of the water we use is actually recycled water so we need to be cautious of the things we put into our water. Our city does add things like anti-corrosives and chlorine to keep us safe. Thick biofilms also line most pipes to protect us from corrosion of hazardous lead pipes. Replacing these pipelines has large costs associated with it. The city is only responsible for water up to the meter, the homeowner is responsible for everything from the meter to the faucets. If the city replaces part of the meter, then it is in the best interest of the homeowner to replace the other part otherwise the difference in the biofilms of the pipes can cause negative outcomes. Luckily, the city has incentive programs in place that won’t offset the entire cost. Our city takes care of us the best they can, however we do need to be more mindful of what we put into our water and how important maintenance is. Recycling Program Sydney White, Steven, Homar, Landry, Christina, Chris, SCI 105 Advisor: L Hoerner We will have a poster set up to inform students around the campus about recycling. From where the can recycle on campus to what they can recycle to how it benefits the environment. Mechanics of Cranes in Non-Ideal Circumstances David Bonney, Chad Matthews, William Thomas PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey Cranes are widely used tools to aid in lifting items great heights for the sake of transportation and construction. We are testing how a mass on a crane will act in non-ideal circumstances, such as swinging on a pendulum or dropping, as well as testing the former two at varying angles. We constructed a crane- like apparatus using wood, rope, and pulleys to test the aforementioned circumstances on a smaller scale. We found that a pendulum undergoing simple harmonic motion imparted a negligible effect on the force perceived on the crane’s base, but dropping a mass exerted a large force in a linear fashion based on distance dropped. Dropping 120g from 20cm, 30cm, and 40cm averaged 4.7N, 5.43N, and 6.15N, respectively; and a larger angle upwards did mitigate the observed force to 3.85N and 3.7N dropping the 120m 20cm at 26.6 degrees and 40.8 degrees, respectively. In conclusion, masses suspended by crane should be suspended at tall angles, and to take measures to avoid dropping any suspended mass.
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RRCC STEM Expo
Fall 2017 Program
Wednesday, November 29, 10am – 12pm
What Should You Know About Your Water?
Kayla Andis, April Beal, Cole Delery, Nicole Dickinson, Donny Herrera, Manisha Jaiswal, Chad Matthews,
Christian Prather, HNR 100 Advisor: B Sobhani
The people of Denver should know more about their water. A recent survey of RRCC students showed
that there are concerns about access to clean water in the future. A large percent of the water we use is
actually recycled water so we need to be cautious of the things we put into our water. Our city does add
things like anti-corrosives and chlorine to keep us safe. Thick biofilms also line most pipes to protect us
from corrosion of hazardous lead pipes. Replacing these pipelines has large costs associated with it. The
city is only responsible for water up to the meter, the homeowner is responsible for everything from the
meter to the faucets. If the city replaces part of the meter, then it is in the best interest of the homeowner
to replace the other part otherwise the difference in the biofilms of the pipes can cause negative
outcomes. Luckily, the city has incentive programs in place that won’t offset the entire cost. Our city takes
care of us the best they can, however we do need to be more mindful of what we put into our water and
how important maintenance is.
Recycling Program
Sydney White, Steven, Homar, Landry, Christina, Chris, SCI 105 Advisor: L Hoerner
We will have a poster set up to inform students around the campus about recycling. From where the can
recycle on campus to what they can recycle to how it benefits the environment.
Mechanics of Cranes in Non-Ideal Circumstances
David Bonney, Chad Matthews, William Thomas PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
Cranes are widely used tools to aid in lifting items great heights for the sake of transportation and
construction. We are testing how a mass on a crane will act in non-ideal circumstances, such as swinging
on a pendulum or dropping, as well as testing the former two at varying angles. We constructed a crane-
like apparatus using wood, rope, and pulleys to test the aforementioned circumstances on a smaller
scale. We found that a pendulum undergoing simple harmonic motion imparted a negligible effect on the
force perceived on the crane’s base, but dropping a mass exerted a large force in a linear fashion based
on distance dropped. Dropping 120g from 20cm, 30cm, and 40cm averaged 4.7N, 5.43N, and 6.15N,
respectively; and a larger angle upwards did mitigate the observed force to 3.85N and 3.7N dropping the
120m 20cm at 26.6 degrees and 40.8 degrees, respectively. In conclusion, masses suspended by crane
should be suspended at tall angles, and to take measures to avoid dropping any suspended mass.
Ballista Ballerz (Build and Test Medieval Ballista)
Johnny Boos, Kyle Beller, Jordan Marsh, Alex Langfield, PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
Team Ballista Ballerz was motivated to construct a medieval-style ballista to challenge ourselves to go
where no RRCC Physics Team has gone before. The concept and design is essentially a massive cross-
bow which launches arrows and projectiles with tension. Our group will calculate the projectiles velocity,
max height, drag, and other kinematics of motion variables. Analysis of our projectile data is still in
progress. We will continue to make adjustments to achieve our desired distance of approximately 100ft.
Fabricating a Ballista light enough to be cost-effective and mobile while simultaneously withstanding the
tensions forces required is critical. The projectile data we collect and analyze with give us a greater
comprehension of adjustments to make in materials selection and design moving forward.
Electromagnetic Railgun
Jason Gregg, Amy Austin, Sophia Wyss PHY 212 Advisor: C Medina
An advanced weapon used by the United States Navy is the electromagnetic rail propulsion system that
utilizes electromagnetic force to launch missiles. We built a prototype to demonstrate electromagnetic
field occurrence, and verified that voltage directly impacts acceleration of a projectile. Our build
comprised of a capacitor bank, an AC/DC converter power source, and a parallel copper rail system.
Providing an initial velocity, we measured acceleration of ½ gram aluminum cylindrical projectiles at three
different voltages (20V, 30V, and 40V). Our results indicated a linear increase in acceleration due to
increased voltage. Errors resulted from inaccurate spacing of rails and surface contact of aluminum
projectiles. Steel spherical projectiles failed the system. Electromagnetic systems could significantly
impact future weapons design.
The Effect Of Color Film On Lemon Basil Growth
Sana Xiong, Lynzee Allen, Jacob Trelease, Jamie Rush, BIO 112 Advisor: S Kaye
The following experiment was done to test out the effect color filter has on lemon basil growth height over
a period of six weeks in an aquaponic environment. This experiment included lemon basil as the main
crop, and color filter blue, yellow and green. In the experiment 12 basil plants were tested, three for each
color filter and three for control. It was hypothesized that the green filter would negatively impact the
growth height of lemon basil, the most, out of all three colors including the control group. In conclusion,
the hypothesis was not supported. The green color filter group was actually the most successful group in
height growth.
Bridge Stress Analysis
Huilin Ren. PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
Knowing how much stress a bridge can bear is very important for real life, because there’s an increasing
number of bridges being built. Knowing the max stress a bridge can hold as well as the max torque will
help people build safe bridges. Huilin Ren, Gabriel Hegarty, and Dion Mayes built a truss bridge, arch
bridge and beam bridge. They want to know which structure could hold the most weight by testing them
with torque and stress.
Physics Cannon
Jose Sandoval, Brett Webb, David Palcsak PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
We will be calculating the projectile motion of the object with a lot of description, including air resistance,
and anything that affects the object being shot. We do not know how to calculate the combustion of the
reaction so we will not be including it in our calculations. We are measuring strictly projectile motion,
including air resistance (drag).
Spring-Powered Car
Tristan Strayer, Chad Rogers, Bradford Pettingill, Woody Graklanoff PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
Premise: How much spring force is required to launch a small, wooden car forwards? What variables will
change the velocity and range of said car? With these tests, we intend to find out.
Methods: The way we tested this was by changing different variables, such as the mass of the car, and
where we attach the rubber bands to the car. Then, we would measure the time the car took to move
through two sensors, from which we derived the velocity, and the range of the car given those conditions.
Results: We found that, as expected, increasing the mass of the car lowered the average velocity and
range. Also, attaching the rubber bands to hooks that are further away, and thus stretching the rubber
bands further, we found that more spring force was generated and the car went further, faster.
Conclusion: The car goes faster with less mass, and with a higher amount of spring force acting on it.
The Design and Production of a Low Cost Reliable Thermal Cycler to conduct polymerase chain
reactions Christian Prather, NASA Space Grant, Advisor: L Albert
Here at Red Rocks Community College, student research is being done on exposing living bacterium to unfamiliar conditions. A device which allows for the amplification of DNA on returning organisms, via PCR, is needed for detailed study of induced genetic changes. Thermal cyclers are ideal, but are costly. This is why we are aiming to provide high precision, low cost thermal cyclers to students. If we are able to produce a reliable and accurate device that can be created at any makerspace for around $100.00 we will eliminate a huge barrier to entry for those wishing to do more in the scientific field.
To solve this problem we have been researching the mechanics of current thermal cyclers and looked at other possible approaches. We have designed our own custom circuit board, using only off the shelf low cost components. All control is executed through custom code that is purposely kept as user friendly as possible in an attempt to allow for any student or individual with even basic understanding of code to follow the logic and make changes if desired. The casing was modeled in SolidWorks and ran through simulation to determine how it will open and operate. This is the final step and is designed to be made with common materials such as plywood or MDF.
Through this process we are hoping to get a reliable, easy to use device that can be made by any student for less than $100.00. This will hopefully allow for students to gain access to industry used equipment and perform higher level scientific research. In conclusion we are shooting for a testable device by the end of the month and after initial testing we will revise design aspects to make it as accessible and open source as possible.
Physics of a Crane
Michael Feron PHY 211 Advisor: S Spivey
The purpose of this project is to build a functional crane and analyze the force interactions acting upon it, as well as develop a formula capable of relating a maximum arm angle and maximum weight of tipping. Cranes operate on the idea that the linear force and torque acting upon every point along them sum to zero, preventing them from tipping. Through experimentation and calculation, the model crane’s maximum lifting capacities at given boom angles are found.